"No good film is too long. No bad movie is short enough." – Roger Ebert

Opening in Chicago, 01/27

I’m happy because I’m writing this listening to Philip Glass’s Kundun soundtrack. I bought the CD back when Kundun was released, but lost it in a move years ago. I never got around to replacing it, but found a used copy yesterday for $4. I really wish Criterion would put the movie out already, because who knows when I’ll ever get to see it again otherwise.

Albert Nobbs (trailer)Director: Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, Nine Lives, Passengers, Mother and Child)Personal Interest Factor: 6
Finally this is out, so now I don’t have to see the trailer again. I’ve seen it before almost every movie I’ve seen for months, and I can barely describe the feeling of deflation I experience when I see the LD/Roadside logo flash up on the screen and know it’s about to play. Nonetheless, it’s bittersweet, because I can already tell that the token indie trailer slot is going to be taken by Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which looks pathetically vapid. So some Arabic sheik thinks it will be a “miracle for his people” if he can open a new vacation resort, eh? What’s the Arabic word for “Versailles”?Metacritic: 57

The Grey (trailer)Director: Joe Carnahan (Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane, Narc, Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team)Personal Interest Factor: 7
I’m a little surprised to notice that I’ve never seen one of Carnahan’s movies, but I have to imagine I’ll see this. Even if it’s shitty I’ll probably enjoy it somewhat, because I can watch just about anything that takes place in the snow. It’s a comfort thing for me, I guess. That’s especially true given our ridiculously mild winter so far here in Chicago; I’m just about willing to get stranded in the Arctic right now myself.Metacritic: 67

Man on a Ledge (trailer)Director: Asger LethPersonal Interest Factor: 4
Trailer is pretty slick but the reviews are bad enough to scare me off. Reminds me of The Negotiator, back in the 1990s.Metacritic: 41

Miss BalaDirector: Gerardo Naranjo (Drama/Mex, I’m Gonna Explode)Personal Interest Factor: 7
Film about a beauty pageant contestant who is recruited as a drug mule. It’s Mexico’s submission for the Academy Awards, although it missed out on a nomination despite strong critical acclaim.Metacritic: 81

A Separation (trailer)Director: Asghar FarhadiPersonal Interest Factor: 9
Iranian film which did get an Oscar nomination, and one of the best-reviewed movies of the year, ranking third on Indiewire’s Critics Survey.Metacritic: 95

Tomboy (trailer)Director: Céline Sciamma (Water Lilies)Personal Interest Factor: 6
French movie about, well, a tomboy. Actually, that’s not quite precise; it’s about a little girl who is mistaken for a boy and rolls with it. Kind of like Boys Don’t Cry for kids, I guess, though hopefully not so grim.Metacritic: 74

We Need to Talk About Kevin (trailer)Director: Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Caller)Personal Interest Factor: 6
Another in the Indiewire top 20, so I should probably see it, but my tolerance for evil-child movies is extremely low. I still haven’t gotten over Joshua, one of my least favorite movies of the 2000s. Doesn’t help that it’s only playing at River East.Metacritic: 71

Also this week:Amador – Spanish film about immigrants in MadridOne for the Money (trailer) – new Katherine Heigl movie

Funny, I’ve never seen the Albert Nobbs trailer (I did see the movie today, review coming this weekend). I have seen the Salmon Fishing one twice already. My friend turned to me and said, “That must have been a tough sell.”

Funny, I’ve never seen the Albert Nobbs trailer (I did see the movie today, review coming this weekend).

Well, my problem is that the theater I usually go to for new movies has an aging demographic, so I even saw Albert Nobbs in front of a couple of movies where I wouldn’t expect a trailer like that. For instance, I think I saw it in front of M:I4.

I’m also seeing a lot of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel these days. It’s quite remarkable to see such undisguised exoticism in 2012, and audiences love it.

Saw A Separation today, review tomorrow. Brilliant film. I saw that it has a 99% percent favorable on Rotten Tomatoes. Turns out it has only one rotten, by a critic named David Nusair. The comments he gets our pretty funny; seems he gave The Darkest Hour and New Year’s Eve fresh ratings. He’s either an Armond White kind of iconoclast, or a true philistine.

That said, I read his review (here), and while I don’t agree with it – and in fact, some of the things he didn’t like about it were things I did like – he doesn’t seem so unreasonable.

Reading his other reviews on that page, though, “there’s little doubt” (a phrase he uses in 5 of the 6 reviews on that page, with the 6th one having “without a doubt”) that he dislikes “uninvolving” films with a “deliberate pace”.